Happy 35th Birthday WCSB

WCSB turns 35 today. On this day in 1976, we began broadcasting at 89.3FM from "University Tower" room UT956. The first song aired was "Pepperland" by the Beatles. We had a staff of under 40 people, all of whom possessed 3rd class broadcast licenses, that ran the station from 7am until midnight on weekdays and 9am -2am on weekends.

According to principles of strategic planning, on the basis of a Mission Statement, WCSB can then derive a promotional slogan.

I thought first about, "WCSB: We make Cleveland Cool!" But then, I realized that half of the programming is "ethnic," and much of the audience might not have the familiarity with English necessary to understand what "cool" means here.

Then, I thought about, "WCSB: Something for Everybody!" It plays on the latest release by NE Ohio-native Devo, but then, I realized that WCSB doesn't really have something for everybody, e.g. charismatic evangelicals.

Then, I came up with, "WCSB: Still Waiting for the Rapture!" It uses irony to highlight that WCSB highlights culture outputs that are predominantly non-WASP, and evangelicals are the first to condemn Harold Camping as a "false prophet," but then, WCSB probably doesn't want to risk making any more enemies.

Then, I thought up, "WCSB: Celebrating Diversity!" Nobody can f*ck with you with a motto like that one.

WCSB has a mission statement. We also have a slogan - "Cleveland's FM Alternative". Perhaps we need to educate our listeners on what they are but I don't think we will be changing them anytime soon. We have been "Cleveland's FM Alternative" for the last 35 years.